The Middle Ground
by zoyalviii
Summary: They had lived next door to each other for years, but they didn't know each other at all besides the problems of their families. She was always put down and neglected by hers, and he was suffocating from his. They both wanted to be free. And for the first time, they'll do something about it, with help from each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1~ Rooftops**

Sammy double checked that everyone was asleep before she climbed up to the rooftop.

It was a simple process really. Although she had the smallest room, she also had a small cushioned bench against her window that she could use to boost herself up and out of the house. The roof to the left was practically flat, and ironically located just above her sister's room. With years of athletic and flexibility training to keep herself thin, it was easy to swing her legs over to it with a well timed jump. Then, with her hands still located on the edge of the window, Sammy would push out, forcing herself into a standing position and fully outside.

It was the last summer night before school started up again. Only a few minutes before she had finished both her sister's and her own summer assignments, which included two book reports, a full outline of a biology experiment on a topic of choice, and a history project about the civil war that they would be presenting in class the next day. Sammy had written out flash cards for her sister's presentation, knowing full well that she wouldn't use them, instead batting an eye lash at the teacher so he would 'forget' she hadn't gone. However, if she didn't have the notecards, Amy would throw a fit, claiming that there was no point in having the project if she couldn't even present it.

Sammy sighed, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the roof while she ran a hand through her wet hair. Contrary to popular belief, neither her or her twin's hair was naturally straight. Rather it was so wavy that it was practically in curls, and they spent twenty minutes each every day making sure that it was all straightened out before school. Instead of the usual cheer uniform like outfit, Sammy was wearing an american flag sweatshirt in a pale color pallet, faded high-rise jean shorts and white vans. An outfit like this, both comfortable and cute, was what she would prefer to wear all the time. Instead, she wore the same barely-there skirts with tight crop tops and white heeled boots that Amy gave her every day, matching her own outfit. While she used to think Amy was just being nice to her, she had come to realize that the only reason her sister did this was so that she could brag about how she wore it better.

The young blonde tightened her fists, willing herself not to cry. She was done with this. She was done with the constant need to gain her sister's acceptance. No matter how much she loved her sister, her sister would never give a shit about her. The worst thing was that she couldn't hate her. She would always love her sister, and cherish the rare few moments in their childhood where Amy was actually nice. She was naive to think that little girl was going to come back to her. She was gone. This Amy was here to stay.

The familiar scent of smoke drifted its way over to Sammy who frowned. Her next-door neighbor, Duncan, must be smoking again. He only did that when he was upset, which was a lot more recently.

A few moments later, Duncan himself walked out onto the balcony that was connected to his room. He nodded to her, giving her slight acknowledgement before letting the top of his body hang over the rim, exhaling the smoke from his lungs towards the ground. Sammy glanced down as well, staring at the twenty-foot grassy patch between their houses. As kids, She, Amy, and Duncan used to fight about who got to play that area all the time. Some days it belonged to Amy and Sammy's shopping mall, and some days it belonged to Duncan and his mob. As they got older, it was either Amy and Sammy's tanning spot (the light hit it just right, despite the two houses that closed in on it) or Duncan's graffiti wall in which case he had it for two days; one to spray paint, and one to scrub it all off.

"Are you ready to go back to that hell-hole tomorrow?" A deep voice suddenly asked. Sammy's head snapped up to Duncan, who was staring at her expectantly. She was surprised. On the off chance that they were both out at the same time, it was unspoken rule that they didn't talk to each other.

"Uh... yeah. I just finished mine and Amy's assignments actually."

Duncan rolled his eyes, tossing the stub of his cigarette down two-stories to the ground. Without pause, he pulled another one out of a half-empty pack.

"Still following the bitch around?"

"She's not a-" Sammy stopped herself. There was no point in defending her. Amy really _was _a bitch. "Yeah... I guess I am." She suddenly felt ashamed of herself.

"It's pretty pathetic." Duncan said bluntly, lighting the new cigarette. "Why don't you just tell her off?"

"It's- it's not that easy." The blonde answered, her words breaking as soon as she said them. In response, Duncan waved his and towards her like he was showing off a car.

"You're doing it now, aren't you? Just start doing it all the time."

The gears in Sammy's head turned. What she was wearing right now Amy would never be caught alive in. It was 'unflattering' and 'straight off a hobo' she would say. That's why Sammy hid them in a draw with the rest of the cloths that she had bought when she was able to sneak off to the mall by herself so Amy wouldn't find them. She could make enough outfits to last the week, and go shopping this weekend if she really wanted to do this. The more she planned it out in her head, the more excited she got.

"You'll also have to change your hair." The other teen added off-handedly. A look of horror washed over Sammy's face.

"What, why?!"

"You look like her fucking clone." Duncan responded, studying her. A smirk raised on his slightly chapped lips. "A little bit of dye and we could turn you into a purple pixie."

"NO!" Sammy answered quickly, clutching her hair. Without being straightened, it just barely passed the tips of her shoulders. She wove her fingers into it, thinking. While she absolutely refused to dye it, perhaps shortening it wouldn't be that bad. "But... I guess I could cut it."

"Catch."

Before she had time to respond, an object was flying towards if. If it wasn't for the moon shining brightly overhead, Sammy never would have caught what Duncan had thrown. She caught it with both hands, studying the object.

"Is this a pocket knife?" She asked, feeling slightly appalled. Laughter filled the air.

"Second luckiest I own. Use it for your hair."

"Or I could use scissors." She shot back, tucking the knife in the pocket. She knew she would be using it. Duncan, knowing the same thing, continued to smirk. They sat in a comfortable silence again, Sammy thinking about how she could do her hair and Duncan finishing his smoke. For the second time that night, he broke the silence.

"You have Howard this year, right?" He asked. Mr. Howard was the U.S. history teacher at their high school. Duncan, being in the grade ahead, had already taken the class last year as it was a requirement for juniors.

"Yeah, the AP class."

"AP or honors, he's still a douche." Duncan ranted. "He fuckin' took my nose ring."

"Which one?" Sammy joked. "The septum or the stud?"

"Stud, I flipped up the septum." The blonde giggled at that.

"Maybe, you should add a piercing you your list of changes, eh?"

"I'm good." Sammy amended quickly. When it came to physical pain, she was kind of a wimp.

"Suit yourself." Duncan answered slyly. He stretched his arms over his head, exposing a bit of his toned stomach as he yawned. As he dropped his arms, he tossed his second cigarette over his shoulder and onto the lawn.

"Goodnight Sammy." He called, heading back into his room. He never looked back, leaving Sammy in a kind of daze as he closed the balcony doors.

That was the first time in five years someone hadn't called her Samey.

About five minutes later, Sammy swung herself back into her own room. She headed straight into the bathroom, fiddling with the pocket knife as she went.

The lights flickered on, humming faintly as they did so. Sammy walked over to the mirror, where an almost perfect replica of Amy stared back at her.

She smiled, mouthing a little _'goodbye' _as she flicked open the pocket knife. The light caught it just right, making the blade gleam. With steady hands, Sammy gathered all her hair in one hand and used the other to raise the blade to the end. Her goal was to take of four to five inches, giving herself what she hoped would be a cute wavy bob. Before she could talk herself out of it, she slashed the knife through her hair.

Short strands of blonde lazily floated down to the floor. Sammy gasped, taking in her new look. She couldn't believe she had just done that! Her short hair fell gently against her face. It was now just barely longer than her chin, and although it was a bit choppy, the waves did look very cute on her. Her large blue doe eyes seemed to pop more than they ever did. She also noticed that it brought more attention to her lips rather than her chest. Experimentally, she took a bobby bin out of the top draw and twisted her bangs, clipping them loosely by her ear. She grinned largely at her appearance. Maybe her hair wasn't completely even and it was a completely one-eighty from what she normally would have done, but she loved it. And as she grinned, a small dimple appeared on the right side of her face, another thing the loved about their appearance that Amy hated.

Sammy studied her face closer. She had wiped off the winged eyeliner that Amy had made her start wearing with her all last year before, and she liked the way she looked now. Maybe tomorrow she would add just a bit of eye liner to her lower lid and mascara so people could see her blonde eyelashes. But other then that, she wouldn't do anything else. No more foundation or smokey eyes or blush. Maybe she would have a few red blotches and small bumps, but they made her feel more real.

She hadn't felt real in a long time.

Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Sammy ran back into her room and dropped to her knees in front of her dresser. She opened the bottom two draws, taking out all of her jeans, shorts, tee-shirts and sweaters that she loved. She tossed them all onto her bed and began sorting through them. Despite it being one in the morning, sleeping was the last thing on the bubbly teens mind. She started matching shorts with sweaters, jeans and shirts, tall socks and shoes and even jewelry. She had beanies and hair clips she never wore, putting those in as well. She even had a dress that wasn't tight against her skin!

Half an hour later Sammy finally exhausted herself, and she crawled into bed, still wearing her shorts and sweat shirt. Her last thoughts were how excited she was for tomorrow.

* * *

When Sammy's alarm clock went off at six thirty that morning, she grinned, not a single thought in protest as she got out of bed. School didn't start until eight ,but Sammy only had the bathroom for half an hour before Amy would start her hour long process. Rather than go for the straightener that she always used, Sammy took out a curling iron that was still in the box. She had bought it at the beginning of freshman year in the hopes of curling her hair for the homecoming dance. Amy was quick to shoot her down, saying she would look like a Goldie Locks wanna-be. Embarrassed, Sammy had hidden it in the bathroom closet. Today, she popped it open like she had wanted to do all those years ago and plugged it in for the first time. As she waited for it to heat up she began to do her eye makeup. She grabbed her charcoal colored eye liner and applied it for the first time to her bottom lid, making her eyes water, then applied a heavy coating of mascara. Already she looked different from what she normally did, but she liked this look better. Figuring the curling iron was done, Sammy grabbed a piece of hair and twirled it around the heated metal, holding it in just long enough to change her gentle waves into a playful lose curl. She did this to the rest of her hair and clipped her bangs back again with a red bow for the final touch. She finished just in time to get out before Amy would see her.

Sammy grabbed the cloths that were on the end of her bed and laid them out in front of her. She slipped out of her old cloths and changed quickly, humming disney tunes under her breath. Her new outfit consisted of a lose gray sweater that she tucked the front of into another pair of high waisted light-wash shorts. She wore knee high black socks that were the same material as tights along with her only other pair of comfortable shoes, red high-top converse. For jewelry, she added a few bracelets to her wrists and along dream catcher necklace she had gotten for her birthday. Since Amy didn't have the same one, she never wore it. But now, it complimented her nicely. Sammy slipped her iPhone into her back pocket and skipped down the stairs.

Her parents, she knew, were already at work. They co-owned a large clothing company and were already preparing their daughters for a modeling life on the run way. Secretly, Sammy didn't want to be a model, but she also didn't want to disappoint her parents. Well, her father really. Her mother had been disappointed in her the second she was told that she was having twins and Amy had been the first to be born.

As she dug into her cereal, Sammy almost choked when she was startled by a strangled scream.

"What the _hell _are you wearing and what the _hell _did you do to your hair?!" Amy screeched. "That is not what we picked out!"

Sammy swallowed her food and stared down her sister. She was wearing a tight dark red skirt with a white crop top that had a pair of red lips across her chest and was still see-through enough to see her black lacy bra underneath along with white strapy heels. Her nails were all painted red to match.

"I decided to try something different." Sammy answered, trying to ignore her sisters murderous glare.

"WELL YOU LOOK FUGLY! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ANYONE TO RESPECT YOU WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE THAT SAMEY?! THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL YOU ARE GETTING IN THE SAME CAR AS ME!"

Sammy whimpered. God, Amy's voice was like nails on a chalk board. Did she sound like that? Her appetite was gone now, Sammy pushed the bowl away from her and got up from the table. She didn't say a thing to her twin as she grabbed her backpack and headed out the door.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Amy sneered. Sammy flinched at the swear. She hated swear words. She honestly believed they were unnecessary.

"I'm going to walk to school." She answered. She slammed the door behind her as she slipped outside, blinking away tears. Changing had been a terrible idea. She should have stayed the way she was.

"Holy shit, Sammy is that you?"

Sammy blushed slightly, recognizing the voice. She turned to a startled looking Duncan and laughed awkwardly.

"Uh, surprise?"

"Damn." He muttered, still standing at the edge of his driveway by his car. Sammy remained her spot, fidgeting.

"Does it look okay? Because I'm starting to think that this whole idea was stupid. I mean, I can go change really quickly-"

"No!" Duncan interrupted quickly. "I mean, you look fine. And are you walking to school?"

"Yeah. Amy doesn't want to be seen with me if I look this fugly." She sneered the last part in the same way her sister would, acting exactly like Amy. Duncan chuckled.

"Well I for one wouldn't mind being seen with you. Do you wanna ride?"

A ride? With Duncan? The last time the two of them had a decent conversation before last night was years ago, back when they were both in middle school. Sammy thought about saying so, but Duncan had already grabbed her arm and was dragging her towards his 2002 Audie A4.

"Come on, it wasn't really a question. We have to get to school before Courtney or she'll get pissed at me again." He spat bitterly. He opened the car door like a gentleman, and then pushed Sammy into the seat like a barbarian. As he walked to the drivers side, Sammy recalled what she knew about Courtney. She didn't know the girl personally, but she did know a loose version of her history with Duncan. They had met at a shitty summer camp between the summer of seventh and eighth grade, and had started out hating each other. Eventually, Courtney kissed Duncan and they started dating, but broke up at the end of the summer because they were going to different schools. Half way through ninth grade Courtney transferred to their high school, and she and Duncan where on again off again for two years. Then in eleventh grade Courtney claimed to have 'had enough' and refused to even talk to Duncan anymore. His friend Gwen had gone through something similar with her boyfriend Trent, and the two started a 'friends with benefits' thing. At some point over the summer, Duncan and Courtney must have gotten back together, although he didn't seem very happy about it.

"Do you want you're pocket knife back?" Sammy asked after a minute of silence. At this point, the two teens had spent so many nights silently aware of the others presence but not talking that awkward silences seemed impossible. They didn't feel awkward spacing out around the other, because that's what they had always done.

"Nah, you can keep it. If I really need it you can throw it back."

"Isn't it your luckiest knife?" Sammy asked in confusion. Duncan chuckled.

"No, it's my second luckiest. My first is this beauty right here." As he was driving, the teen took one hand off the wheel in order to reach into his pocket and pull out another pocket knife. This one was a shiny red color with a black skull on the handle. Sammy marveled at it.

"Well okay then, but it goes on the record as a gift."

"Retractable gift."

"Fine."

Small talk continued between them along with some silences until they reached the high school. Duncan pulled into the parking lot and swerved into his spot, not slamming the breaks until the last minute. Terrified, Sammy looked over at him and was thrown off by the content look in his eyes. The fear of Duncan soon turned to a fear of rejection by the entire school, which he noticed when the girl next to him wasn't even attempting to reach for the door let alone unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Come on, we'll be late." Duncan sighed, clicking the seatbelt off for Sammy. She gulped.

"Yeah, but what-"

"You look cute, okay?! No one is going to say anything bad. And if they do, fuck 'em."

"Right. Okay. Yeah. All be fine." Sammy whispered to herself, getting out of the car with a slight blush. She slung her backpack on and walked with Duncan onto the school grounds. They both made their way over to the four tables that had been set out front to hand out schedules to each of the grades.

"Well, this is where we split. Thanks for the ride this morning." Sammy smiled up at Duncan, trying to put the gratitude she felt in her expression. He smirked, ruffling her hair.

"Anytime kid. Except for every day the rest of this year."

"Haha." She rolled her eyes, swatting his hand away. "How nice."

"I'm not nice. Remember that." He let that hang in the air as he walked away. Sammy shrugged and made her way over to the Junior table to grab her schedule. She audibly groaned when she realized that she had Howard as a homeroom teacher alone with no idea whether or not Amy was in the same one.

She noted, as everyone else in the courtyard surely had, that Courtney had found Duncan.

"Hey Baby!" She squealed, rushing over to him. She kissed him roughly for a few seconds before backing away, either not noticing or ignoring that fact that Duncan was barely responding. Sammy walked past them with her head held high, trying to feel more confident than she looked about her official debut as Sammy.

_"Did I see you giving Samey a ride to school?" _Courtney hissed, glaring at the girl as she walked past. Duncan rolled his eyes.

"Her name is Sammy."

"Excuse me?" Courtney asked, raising her voice slightly. A few people turned to look, and Duncan figured now was as good as any to tell all these idiots what Sammy's real name was.

"Her name is Sammy, not Samey. It's short for Samantha."

"I don't care how name is pronounced!" Courtney sputtered. "I-"

"Bye Callie!" Duncan waved, walking away from her. Her face went red with fury.

"Duncan! Don't you dare walk away from me!"

He should have walked away a long time ago.

* * *

**_A/N: So, I wouldn't say this is the weirdest paring ever, right? It's not something I would have shipped when the show was on, nor would I if the two of them were put on the same season together. What inspired me to start writing it is that I was reading another story earlier for Samey, and it got a bit more into (if extremely exaggerated) the idea of Samey being a shadow not only to Amy but the rest of the family. And while it seemed a lot of characters from TDPI were trying to help her, no one really UNDERSTOOD what was happening to her, and were blinding agreeing that they knew how Samey felt. I figured that if anyone would understand the feeling of loss and rejection in family it was Duncan, who comes from a long line of policemen and women. However, unlike Samey, Duncan is straight and blunt with people. I thought to myself that maybe he could teach Samey how to do that, and thus the idea of a relationship between them was born. It's a bit difficult to write Samey without Amy, but you'll have to let me know how I'm doing! On a final note, I did not draw the cover photo. I found it on google images._**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Fake It Til You Make It**

The Junior hallways were not new to Sammy like they were to many other kids in her class. They were almost more familiar than last years. Amy used to drag her down this hallway for the usual morning butt-kissing to Heather every day. Her sister's fascination with the popular upperclassman began after watching Heather read Gwen's diary in the middle of the cafeteria in their tenth grade year. Ever since, she had done everything possible to get the girl's attention. Heather carried her around like an accessory, and Sammy the keychain attached. But this year, she didn't want to hang out with Heather anymore. She wanted, for the first time in her life, to make her _own _friends.

People whispered as she walked through the hallways. Only a few of them figured out who she was, and that was with complete shock and hesitation. It was either Amy or Samey, but without the other twin present they couldn't judge which one. Another theory was that she was a new student. Sammy ignored them all, slipping into the classroom early with about five minutes to spare. She pulled out her two section notebook for the history class she would have as soon as homeroom ended. One side was for homework, and one side was for class notes. The front used to be a simple light blue, but it was now covered in black sharpie doodles, ranging from little flowers to sick figures.

"Hi! I'm sorry, I was just wondering if we've ever met before?" A small girl asked. She was a cute red head that wore a flower in her hair that was styled in pigtails, a red tube top, khaki capris and wedge sandals. Her name was Zoey, and she had been in the same class as Sammy for five years.

"Umm, yeah, we have. I'm Sammy?"

The red head gave her a blank look.

"Samey?"

"Ohh!" She was startled, looking apologetic with a mix of both hesitance and regret in her voice. Sammy quickly tried to revive her name.

"Umm, it's actually Sammy. Short for Samantha. My sister started calling me Samey because I was the 'second Amy,' and then she told everyone else that's my name."

"So, you guys changed your look this year?"

"No. Just me. I didn't want to dress like a... well, a slut anymore. Amy got mad at me though, and she wouldn't let me come to school with her."

"You're own sister made you walk?!" Zoey asked, horrified. Sammy nodded, deciding to leave out the part where Duncan had given her a ride.

"She's not a very nice person."

"I didn't think you were a very nice person for a while either..." Zoey trailed off. Sammy sighed, looking down at her desk.

"Maybe I wasn't."

"But you're off to a good start! I like the new outfit. It suits you. And the hair looks great!"

"Thank you." Sammy said sincerely. A wave of happiness spread over her. She should have tried talking to Zoey years ago.

"Hey, mind if I see your schedule?"

"Not at all." Sammy passed over the paper she had just received, hoping that Zoey was looking for the classes they did have together and not the ones they didn't.

"We have History, Science and Math together. Nice!"

"R-really?"

"Sure." The red head answered easily. "We get to pick our own seats in Science. Now I don't have to scramble around looking for someone to sit with!"

"Ah-"

"Everyone settle down." It was at that moment that the infamous history teacher, , walked into the room. Zoey and Sammy quickly face forward again, both smiling. After all, each of them had just made a new friend.

"Rules for homeroom. Sit down, be quiet, and say 'here' when I call your name. I will read the announcements, and you will listen. Then you will go to your first period class. For many of you, that will be this one. At the end of the day, you must be dismissed from this room. Dismissal is at three o'clock sharp. If you are not staying after, hallways must be empty by three-ten. If you are playing a sport, you must be signed in at the locker room doors by three-ten. If you have any questions, ask someone from another class, because I don't care."

Sammy stared at the teacher wide hide. He was like an evil Ron Swanson except this guy was a stick and instead of a mustache he had a thick unibrow that must have been combed daily based on how properly 'cared for' it looked.

A bell rung, and anyone who didn't have history next quickly fled the room. Zoey and Sammy exchanged glances of defeat.

* * *

History had been exactly the hell that Duncan described. At the beginning of class, Howard had confiscated hats from anyone who wore them, had students taking out several piercings, made people wear snuggies if they were to 'exposed' (Sammy was _really _glad that she had chosen her current outfit) and even made one student sit in the front of the classroom next to the board when they revealed they didn't have their project. All they had to do was a powerpoint and a small model. Sammy's model was a war plan from the battle of Gettysburg. She had soaked her piece of paper in some tea and crumpled it to give it that 'aged' feel. Then she used a quill to draw the plan and showed the class. For Amy, she had made paper mache riffle. After breezing through her project presentation, Sammy realized that Amy was going to be doing the same thing in third block, because there was no way that Howard was falling for her charms. At the end of class, everyone quickly packed their stuff and rushed for the door. Sammy was surprised when Zoey had done the same, but was there waiting for her in the hall when she finally squeezed her way out.

"Come on, science is on the other end of the school!" Zoey exclaimed. She grabbed the girls arm and began tugging her along. Sammy laughed as she followed.

"Someone seems eager for this class!"

"I can't help it! Biology is my favorite subject!" She exclaimed. "Well, after gym."

"Amen to that." Sammy giggled as the two burst through the door. Neither were surprised to find that there were some seniors in the room as well. After sophomore years, students got to chose what classes they wanted to take with the exception of a few like History and English.

"Oh Dawn! You're here too!"

Zoey pulled Sammy over a table in the second row near the wall, where Dawn was sitting. She was petite blonde girl with pale features. She wore a large green sweater over a blue collared shirt, a gray skirt, purple tights and ankle boots. Her eyes were closed as she took in the sun from the window, but they popped open when she sensed the two girls coming over. She smiled at them.

"Greetings Zoey, Sammy. I'm glad that you've finally began to show your true self Sammy, you're very beautiful!"

"I-uh-" Sammy was blushing, stumbling over her words. No one had ever called her beautiful. The compliment was usually meant for Amy. "How did you know it was me?"

"You're Aura has always been much kinder than your sisters."

The twin wasn't sure exactly how to respond to that.

"Umm, thanks?"

Dawn smiled back at her.

"She can sense emotions and sometimes memories on people, as well as some aspects of their identity." Zoey explained, taking a seat. "After a while, you learn not to question it and just take her word for it."

"So then, you believe I'm...nice?"

"I didn't need Dawn to tell me you were nice. I just needed you to tell me. And you did. This morning."

"Look at you, not getting bullied about the way you look."

Sammy turned her head to the table beside them. Duncan was taking the seat closest to her, and next to him was Geoff, resident party thrower of the senior class. Back when he was a junior, he had seniors practically _begging _to be invited to his parties. Of course Sammy and Amy were always invited, Amy made sure of that.

"You have AP Bio this year?" Sammy asked. The look Duncan gave her made her feel dumb.

"Seniors chose their science class. And since I took AP chemistry last year, they're making me take AP Bio this year. How was Howard?"

Sammy groaned. "He was terrible. He made people wear snuggies if they were 'to exposed.' And you'd think that it would only happen to girls, but there was this guy, Justin, who also had to wear one since he wasn't even wearing a shirt!"

Duncan and Geoff (who had over heard the statement) burst out laughing. "Aw man, Justin got held back last year, and Howard always said that he would get Justin to cover up and look stupid if it was the last thing he did."

"Guess he forgot the part where they have an open back." Zoey cut in. "I sit behind him. Hi, I'm Zoey. Sammy's friend."

"Sammy? Are you new?" Geoff asked. Sammy sighed. She had thought that people would recognize it was her, but that was apparently to much to hope for. Duncan nudged him and whispered something into his ear. The blonde's eyes shot wide open.

"Oh! Samey! I mean, Sammy! I just had a class with your sister brah. Thought you'd be doin' that freaky twin 'wear the same thing' thing. I like the look! Short hair looks nice on ya."

"Oh, um, thank you." Sammy answered awkwardly. Duncan's eyes flickered back and forth between the two teens.

"Hey Sammy, do you have a pencil I could use?" Zoey asked sheepishly. "I only brought pens today."

"Yeah, no problem."

After that, Science class was kind of a blur. Everyone turned in their experiment plans with an outlined lab reports and took notes on how to make a proper one based off what the teacher was writing on the board. It talked about control groups and experimental groups, acceptable hypothesis, and other things everyone already knew. Sammy suspected that they were only being taught this now so that if someone turned in a bad lab report that teacher could say that they should have known how to do it properly.

Half way through though, Duncan and Geoff began snickering, already in the midst of their first prank of the year. What Sammy and Zoey hadn't realized when they walked in the room due the red head's excitement to talk to Dawn was that Duncan was already at the front of the room tampering with the projector.

"Now I'll show a full example of what a good lab report should look like." The teacher droned. He waddle towards his desk and grabbed the remote for the projector, turning it on.

The feedback was instantaneous.

People were either cringing in disgust or were blown away by a sudden burst of laughter. There, on the board, was a collage of pictures depicting genital warts. In the middle of all of them was a clipart picture of a condom with eyes saying 'use protection kids!'

"Oh god!" Zoey gasped, cringing away with disgust. Sammy almost screamed, throwing her head down onto the desk. She looked to her right, where Duncan and Geoff were practically peeing themselves in their seats.

It was definitely them.

Despite being quickly shut off only seconds after the display began, everyone had seen the pictures. The teachers face was going red, so much so that he began to resemble a cherry.

"WHO. DID. THIS?"

"Welcome back everyone!" Duncan yelled, throwing up his hands. Several of the guys in the class cheered, throwing up fists and laughing.

"DUNCAN WARD, DETENTION AFTER SCHOOL IN THE LIBRARY!"

"Dude! We've only been in school for an hour~" Geoff laughed.

"What can I say, it's a talent." Duncan smirked. The two boys high fived.

"In addition, you will switch seats this instant! Zoey, would you please?"

Zoey began to regret that she had been the only one to offer answering a question earlier in class. She gathered her stuff, patting Sammy's shoulder as an apology as she moved to Duncan's seat.

"At least we're still next to each other." She offered, waiting for Duncan to get up.

"Yeah, there's that." Sammy agreed, feeling disappointed. Duncan loudly plopped down in the seat next to her.

"What's wrong blondie? Sad to have lost your little friend?"

"Yes." Sammy snapped back. She was already irked at Duncan, and he was making it worse by sitting there and taunting her.

And here she thought she was going to have a good day.

* * *

Lunch wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.

It had began awkwardly enough. After stalling for as long as she could, Sammy finally forced herself to walk into the cafeteria. Right away she spotted Amy sitting with Heather, Lindsey, Dakota, Ann Maria, Justin, Alejandro and Topher at the same table they always did in the middle of the room. She noticed that the spot she usually sat in was being filled by a perky senior named Beth that usually got on everyones nerves. Being replaced by her was a low blow.

"Sammy! Over here!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sammy saw her old table turned towards her, giving her sneers of disgust. She did her best to ignore them as she moved towards Zoey who was waving her over. At their table was three girls and four guys. She noted that with her they would have even numbers. The walk was long and painful, people whispering after her as she went.

"Here, I saved you a seat." Zoey said, scooting over. The two girls had been split after science, and Sammy had to brave Gym and Spanish all on her own. Besides Zoey, she recognized Dawn, the tall dark skinned girl from her Gym class along with two of the guys from Spanish.

"You already know Dawn, and this is Cameron, Shawn, Jasmine, B and Mike. Guys, this is Sammy."

"I thought you're name was Samey." Jasmine asked suspiciously. Sammy flushed.

"Umm, that's what my sister calls me. It means s-second Amy. I'd rather go by Sammy now, if that's alright." She wasn't sure what she found so intimidating about this group of people, but if meant she could sit with them and not with her sister then she would let them call her whatever the hell they wanted too.

"She's a very sweet girl. I think she would fit in great with our group!" Dawn backed up. The others were quiet for a moment, thinking back to what they knew about 'Samey' before nodding.

"If Dawn likes ya, I like ya. Welcome to the group mate!"

"As long as you aren't a zombie and agree to fight with us if need be, you're in."

"I suppose it wouldn't be harmful to have another person."

"Once you've pledged your loyalty, you can never leave!"

B nodded.

Sammy felt tears welling up, but she quickly blinked them all away. She was smiling her brightest as these people not only seemed to accept her at their lunch table, but in their group of friends as well.

"You were in my gym class, right?" Jasmine asked, making conversation. Sammy nodded.

"I'm surprised you even noticed me since you were so far ahead on the track."

Jasmine blushed. "I may have lapped you a few times." She admitted, scratching the back of her head. Shawn, B, Mike and Zoey giggled at the hidden implication. Suddenly, Mike gasped. He scrunched up his face so that wrinkles appeared on his face, hunched of on his seat, folded his lips back into his mouth and spoke with a raspy voice.

"Why, all you kids laughing at every little thing, trying to find some sexual joke! Back in my day, you were polite and you kept yer mouth shut about things like that until after marriage!"

"Wh-what?" Sammy asked, confused.

"Oh, Mike has multiple personality disorder." Zoey explained like it was no big deal. "This one is Chester. If you couldn't tell, he's an old man."

"Trust me, I could tell."

"Hey Mike, Zoey's trying to ask you something." Cameron whispered in the boy's ear. Mike gasped again, blinking as he returned to himself.

"What were you saying Zoey?"

"I wasn't saying anything." Zoey responded, confused. "Are you feeling okay Mike."

Mike's face turned red. "Who me? Haha, yeah! I'm fine. Just great. Umm, Sammy! What other classes do you have?" He stared the blonde, begging her to save him from embarrassment with his eyes, which she complied to.

"I have math next, and then English and Art to end the day."

"Sweet! Shawn and I are in math too!"

"I'm in your english." Jasmine added.

"Oh! I have art as well!" Dawn said excitedly.

Sammy spent the rest of the lunch block chatting with what she hoped would be her new friends, feeling like she was on top of the world.

If only it weren't all about to come crashing down.

* * *

**_A/N: And there's chapter two. So far it's kind of just been running through Sammy's school day and meeting some of the other characters. Not all that exciting, but we're getting there. This chapter has really given you guys the opportunity to see how I'm going to portray the characters. If anyone seems to OOC or you have an idea for one, let me know! I'll do my best to get an appearance out of all the cast members from the different seasons, even if it's just in passing. Hopefully, you're willing to stick with me here! _**


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